


All it Took Was Olives and an Open Wound

by iloveyou_iknow (llostt_in_ttranslationn)



Series: i’d die trying to let you live [11]
Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, count how many times someone say “i love you”, final part of the henelope brotp adventure series, i continue to abuse commas and italics, i dare you, the adventure is love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-26 19:50:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20395204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llostt_in_ttranslationn/pseuds/iloveyou_iknow
Summary: The Saltzman twins turn twenty-two and prepare to spend the rest of their full, long lives with the two idiots they somehow fell in love with.





	All it Took Was Olives and an Open Wound

**Author's Note:**

> Well this is it folks, the not so epic conclusion to this little series that started as a joke in my mind a few months ago. I’m so glad you joined me on this adventure, and I hope this last part leaves you satisfied.

“Hope?”

“Penelope.”

“I’m scared.”

Hope turns her head to catch a glimpse of her best friend in the dim light of the laptop on their laps that’s playing some lame horror movie from the 90s.

She knows that the other woman isn’t talking about the film.

It’s March 13, 2036. The twins are going to turn twenty-two in less than forty-eight hours.

Hope feels the same anxiety as Penelope does, but for once in her life she tries to think positive.

“Don’t be. Our ritual worked. On Saturday, we’ll celebrate with our girls and bask in the feeling of knowing we’ve got so many more birthdays to spend with them.”

“But... what if it didn’t work, Hope?” Penelope whispers. “What if one of them dies anyway?”

“That won’t happen.”

“Hope...” Penelope breathes. “What if one of _us_ dies? Since we have Gemini blood in our systems too.”

Hope’s heart stutters.

“God, has anyone ever told you how fucking paranoid you are?” She laughs instead of letting fear creep into her.

Penelope huffs. “I just want everything to be okay.”

Hope wraps an arm around the other woman’s shoulders. “And it will be.”

Penelope leans her head on Hope’s shoulder. Her right arm subconsciously lifts to rest against the left side of her waist, where her largest scar marred her otherwise smooth tan skin. 

“Okay,” she mumbles.

And Penelope isn’t even close to actually believing that things will be okay, but there’s literally nothing she can do at this point to change what may or may not occur in two days.

She thinks about the little blue velvet box that is tucked in a shoebox in the back of her closet in the apartment she shares with Josie, just two floors up from where she and Hope are in Hope and Lizzie’s apartment.

She’s had the ring inside that box since she had it custom made in Belgium during the three months she actually went to the all-witch school in Belgium, seeking information more so than education.

It’s probably a little preposterous that she bought an engagement ring when she was barely seventeen-years-old, but having it served as a reminder of why she was risking her life in the first place. If she never actually got the chance to give it to Josie, but the other girl was still alive, it wouldn’t matter. She’d keep the ring tucked away somewhere for the rest of her life. As long as Josie had a long life of her own to live.

But now, it’s two days before Josie and Lizzie turn twenty-two. And Penelope had decided about a year and a half ago that she would propose to Josie the day after that oh so monumental birthday for the twins.

And she’s not nervous at all about whether or not Josie will say no to her. Penelope knows that Josie loves her, that she plans to spend the rest of their lives together.

No, Penelope’s anxiety lies solely in the fact that she might not get the chance to ask at all. And she knows it’s probably stupid. Because she found the loophole and fixed the ominous threat hanging over their heads.

She knows why she feels this way, though. It’s because she’s happy. And long-term happiness is a pretty foreign concept for her. So Penelope is terrified of the beautiful life with Josie that she has spent the past three years building, being ripped apart.

“Penelope?”

She jolts out of her thoughts at the sound of Hope’s voice.

“You okay? You kinda zoned out on me.”

Penelope hums quietly. “Sorry.”

“Everything will be okay, P,” Hope promises once again.

And before Penelope can come up with another depressing response, the door to the bedroom opens and bursts the somber bubble that the two best friends had been sulking in.

The light is flicked on, and Penelope practically hisses at the brightness that floods her vision after so long sitting in the dark.

“Grow up, Park,” She knows that Lizzie is giving her a somewhat affectionate eye roll, even without looking at the blonde.

“Hi, baby,” Hope greets softly, and Penelope once again knows exactly what Hope’s expression looks like. The sappy smile and gentle eyes that she almost exclusively reserved for the blonde Saltzman.

Penelope takes Lizzie’s arrival as her cue to go. She knows the twins had been out with MG tonight, so Josie should be home now, too.

“See you tomorrow, Mikaelson,” Penelope murmurs into Hope’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry so much, Park,” Hope reminds her with one final squeeze to Penelope’s shoulder before she moves her arm and allows Penelope to stand up.

Penelope fumbles to slip her shoes onto her feet and gathers her phone from where it’s buried in the blankets, snatching her keys from the bedside table as an afterthought.

“Love you, P,” Hope calls out as Penelope reaches the door to the room.

“Love you too, loser,” Penelope shoots her best friend a small smile before leaving the two women to their own devices with a nodded goodbye to Lizzie, and then she’s slipping out of the apartment quietly.

Penelope is bouncing on her toes impatiently as she waits for the elevator, suddenly having a deep ache in her chest that will only be filled when she sees her favorite pair of brown eyes.

It’s maybe turning into a sharp panic by the time the elevator dings as it opens and allows her to enter.

Somehow a panic attack is building inside of her, and she prays that the elevator moves faster than usual so she can reach Josie before she starts to lose her breath.

Of course, the elevator is as slow as ever, creeping up two floors and taking its sweet time before the door slowly slides open.

Penelope rushes out and quickly makes her way to her own apartment, nearly dropping her keys three times because of the tremble that’s shaking her hands as she tries to fit the key into the lock.

And maybe she shoves the door open with a little too much force but she _needs_ to see Josie _right_ now.

“J-Jo?”

The brunette appears from the open doorway of the kitchen to her left.

She has a big smile on her face, but it slowly slips away when she takes in what Penelope knows must be a traumatized expression on her own face.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Josie crosses the distance between them in just a few steps, gently pulling Penelope into her arms.

Penelope lets out a whimper at the feeling of safety that encompasses her when she’s wrapped in Josie’s embrace.

“Baby...”

Penelope buries her face into Josie’s neck, pressing a weak kiss against it as if to say _I’m okay_.

Josie just holds her tighter, staying silent as Penelope clings to her in the middle of their entryway, the front door still open behind them.

After a few minutes, Josie pulls one arm away from Penelope for a moment to push the front door shut. Penelope whines at even the slightest loss of contact and squeezes herself tighter to Josie’s body.

She’s not usually like this. Usually, her breakdowns only come after an especially bad nightmare. But the fear that’s coursing through her right now is reminiscent of the pure terror that she felt so often after leaving Salvatore in search of the cure. The psycho that gave her that gash... being stabbed three times... and God, the things she’s done...

Thinking about the horrors of the last of her teen years is only serving to worsen this panic attack, but Penelope can hardly control anything right now, and her thoughts is not one of them.

“Pen, honey, look at me.”

Somehow, Josie has removed her arms from around Penelope and is instead grasping her face tightly in both hands.

Penelope’s eyes flicker up to meet Josie’s. There’s worry, of course, but deeper than that, Penelope can see the pure love that shines in Josie’s eyes. Just for her.

Josie loves her. That should be all that matters to her. That _is_ all that matters to her. Josie is going to love her forever. She will love her forever regardless of what happens on Saturday. But—

“Marry me.”

Penelope watches as Josie’s eyes widen.

“W-what?” Josie sputters.

Penelope hadn’t quite meant to say that, but it’s the only thing that their lives are missing. They could be girlfriends forever, sure. And if that’s all Josie wanted, Penelope would be happy to stay this way. But being able to call Josie her fiancée... Her _wife_. Penelope needs that.

And whatever happens on Saturday, she needs to know that at the very least, that is what their forever is meant to be.

So—

“Marry me,” Penelope repeats a little louder and a little more sure.

“Like, right now?” Josie asks with a small laugh.

“Jo, I’m serious,” Penelope loosens her tight grip just a little bit so she can lean back and look at Josie properly. “I want to marry you. I want to know that sometime in the possibly near future I can call you my wife. But for now, fiancée will do just fine.”

Josie takes in a deep breath. When she went out with Lizzie and MG a few hours ago, she never thought she’d get back and have Penelope gasping for air one moment, and proposing to her the next.

At her hesitation, Penelope slips from her grip completely, and a jolt of anxiety pulses through Josie, unsure of why Penelope is marching towards their bedroom. Because, _of course_ she wants to marry Penelope, she just wasn’t expecting this tonight.

Josie follows after Penelope, finding her girlfriend digging through their closest.

“Are you leaving?” She whispers.

Penelope barely spares a glance back at Josie. “Never again, Jo.”

Josie stands in the middle of their bedroom dumbly, unsure as to what the fuck has been happening the past twenty minutes.

Penelope pops back up to her feet not even a minute later.

She presents the little blue box in her hand to Josie, who gasps when she sees it, but still reaches out to gingerly take it from Penelope’s hand, slowly pushing the top up on the hinges, gasping once again when she sees the gorgeous ring inside of it.

“Josie. JoJo. My Love. I love you, forever. I’m yours, forever. Be mine forever, too. Marry me.”

Josie gives a small nod. “Yes. Pen, of course I’ll marry you. You have me, forever.”

Penelope grins brightly, pressing a soft kiss to Josie’s lips.

“I love you,” Josie says.

“I know.”

* * *

“So I heard you’re gonna be a Park now.”

Josie rolls her eyes as she looks up to see the ever so familiar smirk on his face. It’s the same one always plastered to Penelope’s when she says something slimy that she’s especially proud of.

“Actually, that hasn’t really been decided yet,” She tells him.

Jed plops down next to her on the bench she’s been sitting on for most of the early morning, watching a few of the younger Salvatore students and Penelope running around on the newly built playground.

“Ah, yes. My dear cousin would love nothing more than to take your last name,” Jed hums.

“Like I said, we haven’t talked about it yet,” Josie says.

“Penelope Saltzman or Josette Park? Much to think about for you two on the matter. I, of course, expect your first son to be named after me either way,” Jed’s smirk remains firmly on his face.

Josie’s eyes widen. “Woah there... Nobody said anything about kids.”

Jed’s face melts into a slightly more serious expression. “Penelope wants children.”

Josie just stares at him.

“I’d have thought you guys would’ve talked about it by now,” Jed says. “But Pen has always dreamed of being a mom. And if you don’t want kids, you should tell her now before she spends any more time dreaming about your fairytale future that involves little brown haired, green eyed pyromaniac babies.”

Josie blinks slowly, absorbing this information.

“And if you don’t want kids, I think you should consider all the sacrifices my cousin has made for you. Because you’d be a great mom, Josie. And any worries you have about it could probably be solved by a simple conversation with my cousin. And something so simple to fix shouldn’t be the reason Penelope doesn’t get one of the things she’s dreamed about since she herself was a child.”

“I do want kids!” Josie says when she finally finds her words.

Jed raises his eyebrows.

“And I know Penelope wants children. She’s so great with the younger students here, how could I not know? Just, you saying it makes the whole thing real, y’know? Like, I’m going to marry Penelope and have kids with her and have the future I dreamed about at fifteen. It’s so surreal.”

“Like I said,” Jed’s smirk returns. “I expect little Jed Saltzman to be running around the halls of Salvatore within the decade, Jo.”

Josie laughs, the serious atmosphere fading.

Penelope picks that time to join them, with the school’s youngest witch, a little girl around five-years-old, propped on her hip.

“Say hi to JoJo and Jed, sweetie,” Penelope prompts.

“Hiya!” the little girl waves enthusiastically.

Penelope is smiling so hugely that Josie can’t help the pure affection shining in the grin that slips onto her face.

Jed shoots her a pointed look, and Josie just rolls her eyes.

Penelope misses the interaction, too busy with the kid in her arms. She can’t help but picture this same moment in the future, with her own kid. Hers and Josie’s.

She thinks maybe they’ll name their kid(s) after Jed, or maybe Hope. And possibly even Lizzie, if the blonde is lucky. After all, they wouldn’t be here in this moment without any of those three. It makes sense to give their kid(s) a name from someone so important in their lives.

* * *

“You’re an idiot.”

Penelope rolls her eyes. “It was an accident.”

“How do you _accidentally_ propose to someone?”

“I don’t know!” Penelope huffs. “It just happened, okay?”

“Well, I’m happy for you, P. Do you feel better about earlier last night?” Hope asks.

Penelope shrugs.

“Well, when nothing bad happens tomorrow, you’ll have a whole wedding to plan,” Hope grins.

“Oh please,” Penelope scoffs. “You _know_ Lizzie is going to insert herself in as our ‘wedding planner’ or whatever.”

Hope chuckles. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

A devilish grin creeps onto Penelope’s face. “She wouldn’t do that if she had a different wedding to plan. Her own, perhaps?”

Hope blushes, uncharacteristically shy.

“We both know you’ve already got a ring. What’s holding you back?”

Hope sighs. “Same as what was stopping you.”

Penelope raises her eyebrows, surprised.

“Well, like you said. Everything is going to be fine.”

Hope nods slowly.

“And then you and Elizabeth _Mikaelson_ can name one of your offspring after me,” Penelope gives her most charming smirk.

“Fuck off,” Hope gives her a small shove, grinning.

She loves the way Lizzie’s name sounds with her last name, and she silently prays that Lizzie doesn’t ask her to become Hope Saltzman. Because she _can’t_ let go of her last name. It’s the only thing she has left from her father. It connects her to her last remaining family members.

“You okay?” Penelope nudges her gently.

“Yeah,” Hope gives a small smile. “Just thinking about how good Lizzie’s name would sound with my last name.”

Penelope matches her soft smile. “I’ll probably take Josie’s, if she’s okay with that.”

Hope whistles in mock astonishment. “Penelope Saltzman. What ever will I do when I can’t just call you ‘Park’ anymore?”

Penelope scoffs. “I’m willing to give you a free pass to still call me that if I’m allowed to refer to Lizzie as ‘Saltzman’ even when she’s got your last name.”

“Deal,” Hope agrees easily.

“Now all you have to do is propose to Lizzie to set this whole thing in motion,” Penelope elbows Hope teasingly.

“Fuck off, _Park_.”

Penelope raises her hand to whack Hope’s arm when a throat clears from across the room.

“Keep your hands to yourself,” Lizzie warns, completely unaware of the conversation she had just walked into the end of.

Penelope pouts. “She started it.”

“Did not!” Hope protests.

“Don’t you have a home of your own?” Lizzie raises an eyebrow at Penelope.

Penelope rolls her eyes. “Yeah, which you always seem to be in.”

“Well you’re always here, so it’s only fair.”

Penelope shrugs. “Nobody says you can’t be here when I’m here.”

“And listen to you and my girlfriend talk about whatever nerdy things you guys do in your spare time? Pass.”

“They’re not nerdy!” Hope is the one pouting this time. She frowns in contemplation. “Okay, maybe the stuff we do with MG might be. But that’s all on him!”

Lizzie smiles affectionately at Hope. “You know I’m only joking, babe.”

“Speaking of babes,” Penelope interrupts whatever sappy love fest is about to happen. “Where’s my _fiancée_, Saltzman?”

“First of all, my sister is not an object to be ogled,” Lizzie huffs. “But, if you must know, we just got back from the store and she’s with Jed.”

“She should’ve come with you here. I miss her.”

“You saw her three hours ago, don’t be dramatic,” Hope snickers.

“As soon as she and Jed are done she’ll join us. And then we are all going out to dinner with Daddy and Mom,” Lizzie informs the duo on the couch. “So I’d suggest changing out of those sweatpants.”

“Will do, darling,” Hope smiles.

Penelope fake gags. “You’re so soft.”

“I could still kill you with my pinky, Park. So watch it,” Hope growls playfully.

“I don’t think Josie would approve of that,” Penelope shoots back.

“Enough of that, you children,” Lizzie huffs.

“Sorry, love,” Hope grins guiltily.

Lizzie rolls her eyes. She knows they’re not sorry, not even slightly.

They all turn at the sound of the front door opening.

Josie smiles brightly at the sight of three of her favorite people in the same room.

Penelope beams back at her. “Baby! You’re here!”

Josie laughs lightly. “Miss me?”

“Always,” Penelope says a bit more serious than the situation is.

Josie crosses the room to stand behind the couch so she can lean down and press a kiss to Penelope’s cheek. “I missed you too, honey.”

Hope snickers. “Who’s soft now, Park?”

Penelope flails her arm out to whack Hope gently.

“Okay, enough of that,” Josie rolls her eyes mirthfully. “C’mon, Pen. We’ve gotta get ready to go to dinner.”

“‘kay,” Penelope agrees easily. She hops to her feet. “See ya, Mik.”

“Don’t miss me too much, Park,” Hope smacks her ass lightly as she walks by, smirking at Penelope’s little yelp of surprise.

Both Saltzman women rolls their eyes once again at the other duo’s antics.

But on the inside, they know they’re incredibly lucky that their girls are best friends. They’re already a family even without the ties of marriage.

* * *

“Hey, Pen?”

“Yeah?” Penelope halts her search for a specific shirt in the closet so she can turn to face Josie, who is curling her hair at the vanity in their room.

“I have something for you.”

Penelope raises an eyebrow. “What kind of something?”

“Babe, we’ve only got twenty minutes before we have to leave. We’re not having a quickie,” Josie rolls her eyes.

Penelope pouts. “That’s plenty of time, though.”

“Oh, believe me. I know exactly how fast I can get you off when time is a factor,” Josie gives a rare smirk. “But that’s not what I meant at all.”

Penelope crosses the room to stand next to where Josie is sitting, her shirt search forgotten.

“That’s a cute bra,” Josie says after a brief moment spent dragging her eyes up and down Penelope’s body, not at all bothered by the fact that Penelope is still shirtless, with just a lacy black bra covering her chest.

“Thanks, it’s new,” Penelope smirks. “I bought it because I think it’ll really turn my fiancée on when I ravish her on the night before her birthday after we get home from dinner with her parents.”

Josie gulps. “Lucky girl.”

“I’m the lucky one, actually,” Penelope’s smirk fades into a genuine smile.

“Speaking of fiancées...” Josie changes the subject. She reaches out and grabs something from the cluttered counter in front of her, too quick for Penelope to catch a glimpse of what it is.

Until Josie presents it to her.

A small black box, with the top propped open.

A wide smile breaks out across Penelope’s face. “It’s almost as beautiful as you, Jo.”

Josie blushes. “Do you like it? You can be honest if you don’t. Lizzie and Jed helped me choose it, but we can return it and you can pick out a different one if you want.”

Penelope silences Josie’s rambling with a soft kiss.

“I love it,” She says. “I love _you_.”

Josie grins. “And I love you.”

Penelope smiles as Josie slips the ring onto the fourth finger of her left hand.

“I’ve gotta find a shirt to put on before we’re late.”

“But you look so good without one,” Josie pouts.

“I don’t think your parents would appreciate me showing up to dinner topless.”

“I would _appreciate_ it, though,” Josie tells her.

“Later, my love. I have a lot planned for us later,” Penelope gives a sly wink before slinking away back to the closet in hopes of finally finding that shirt.

* * *

Penelope and Josie make it to the restaurant perfectly on time.

Hope and Lizzie on the other hand, are ten minutes late. They whisk in with slightly wrinkled clothes and hair that’s a little more tousled than an intentional messy look can explain away.

“If they had time for a quickie before they got here, we definitely did too,” Penelope mutters into Josie’s ear.

The comment earns a kick in the shin from Hope, who is sitting across from her, and a small frown Caroline two seats down from Hope, on the other side of Lizzie, who is across from Josie to Penelope’s right. Alaric is in the last remaining seat at the table, next to Josie and across from Caroline.

“Stupid enhanced hearing,” Penelope mutters, smirking at the two pairs of blue eyes that give her a glare.

“Your lipstick is a bit smudged, Lizzie,” Penelope says, still in the mood to antagonize.

“No it’s not,” Lizzie rolls her eyes.

“Mmm, you’re right. You made sure to fix it real good, huh?”

“Babe, stop teasing them,” Josie warns.

Penelope pouts. “Fine. Just for you.”

Josie gives a pleased grin. “Good girl,” she murmurs towards Penelope.

Penelope frowns and shoots Josie a small glare for her words and her husky tone.

_That’s not fair._

Hope chokes back a cackle, and Lizzie rolls her eyes.

Penelope catches Hope’s eye and the other woman smirks and mouths _‘kinky’_, earning her a kick in the shin from Penelope.

Caroline pointedly ignores the interaction between the four younger women, and Alaric misses it completely, too busy perusing the menu.

“So what do you ladies have planned for tomorrow?” Caroline asks. “Spare the details if you must.”

She certainly does not need or want to know anything more about her daughters’ sex lives.

“MG and Jed planned a little birthday bash for us out by the Mill,” Lizzie says. “Nothing too extravagant, per Josie’s request.”

Josie hasn’t been a fan of big celebrations for their birthday ever since the horror that was her experiences on their sixteenth birthday.

“We’re gonna stargaze from the roof afterwards,” Penelope adds. “A little more private and quiet. Perfect way to end the night.”

She doesn’t add that they’ll be up there counting down the minutes to midnight, when they’ll know for sure that nothing will induce the Merge.

It’ll be a celebration much like that of New Year’s Eve. The promise of a happier future when the clock strikes midnight.

Penelope’s hand starts the night on the skin above Josie’s knee, just because she likes to _feel_ that Josie is right there next to her without seeming too clingy.

But as the night meanders on and Penelope’s attention span to the mother-daughter catch up chat dwindles, her hand slowly begins creeping up higher and higher on Josie’s leg.

It takes a lot of effort to keep herself from staring down at where her hand slides against the smooth skin of Josie’s thigh. She’d love nothing more than to watch the way the hem of Josie’s dress slips up further and further with each stroke of her hand up and down Josie’s thigh. She even pauses a few times to fiddle with the smooth stitching of the hem.

Her ministrations aren’t intended to turn Josie on or tease her in any way. In fact, that result isn’t even anywhere close to being on Penelope’s mind. She is just trying to keep herself quietly occupied so she doesn’t disrupt the other occupants of the table with her fidgeting.

It’s something she does a lot. With her own shirtsleeves, often. But this is more discreet. And if she keeps her eyes up, bouncing around the faces of her soon to be in-laws, she can almost pretend to be comprehending what they’re saying.

“Penelope,” Josie hisses after about twenty minutes of Penelope drawing abstract shapes on top of her thigh with her fingers.

“Hmm?” Penelope snaps her eyes to meet Josie’s, tuning back in to the world around her.

“You really need to stop that,” Josie orders in a tight whisper.

Penelope blinks slowly. “Huh?”

Josie darts her eyes down to Penelope’s hand, and Penelope follows her gaze.

She yanks her hand away like she’s been burned, nearly ramming her arm against the edge of the table in the process.

“Sorry,” She mumbles.

And Penelope knows Josie isn’t mad at her, but the other woman likely thinks that Penelope had ulterior motives, and she doesn’t want that to be the case when it’s not true.

Penelope folds her hands in her lap stiffly, the same way she’d been taught to do as a small child, when her mother had drilled into her head that _Children should be seen, but never heard, Penelope. Don’t you forget that._

She’s pulled out of her internal berating of herself when a soft hand covers her own.

Josie’s eyes are warm and waiting when Penelope finally looks up to meet them.

“We’re gonna go now, babe,” Josie tells her.

“‘kay.”

And after a flutter of goodbyes, Josie is leading Penelope out of the restaurant to the car. She opens the passenger’s side door and guides Penelope into the seat before closing the door and rounding the front of the car to slip into the driver’s seat.

“Pen, are you okay?” Josie asks after a few minutes of driving in silence.

Penelope blinks a few times slowly, trying to pull herself back to reality. She hadn’t realized it before, but she’d let herself drift to a disassociated mindset to keep anxiety from seeping into her at all of the talk of the twins’ birthday.

“I will be once we get home and I can finally get you out of that dress, no matter how sexy you look with it on,” She plasters a smirk onto her face.

Josie frowns. “You’d tell me if something was really wrong, yeah?”

“Of course I would, my love,” Penelope agrees easily and honestly.

And she would. This isn’t something she needs to worry Josie with.

Besides, now that she’s thinking about it, she really needs them to be home as soon as possible so she can do some actual, intentional teasing to Josie, because almost nothing is as hot as when Josie begs for Penelope to push her over the edge to the peak of pleasure.

It’s not Josie’s birthday quite yet, and Penelope doesn’t plan to let Josie use that as an excuse for Penelope not to drag things out as long as she can.

She’ll follow along with whatever Josie wants tomorrow. But tonight, Penelope is going to worship Josie’s body on her own terms.

* * *

After a morning full of Josie taking full advantage of Penelope’s complacency about them doing _whatever_ she wants, they make their way down to their favorite little café in Mystic Falls that opened only two years ago, but has already become _their_ spot.

Once they’re settled with their coffee (Penelope) and tea (Josie) they begin to make easy conversation.

In a lull after Penelope had finished recounting something one of the younger Salvatore students had said yesterday morning while Josie had watched as she goofed off with them on the playground, Penelope speaks up again.

“I think I’d like to take your last name, if that’s okay with you.”

Josie tilts her head, absorbing Penelope’s words. A gentle smile melts onto her face after a moment. “Really?” She asks softly.

Penelope smiles right back at her. “Yeah.”

She hesitates for a moment. Then,

“It’s just— I love Jed and I’m proud to have been born with the same last name as him, but I love you, and you love me, and I feel like there’s something special about sharing a last name with the person you love most in the world, especially if you choose to give up the one you were born with to accept theirs as your own instead. And I’d love nothing more than to truly become a part of your family when we get married.”

“You’re already my family, Penelope,” Josie says with watery eyes. She never fails to be surprised at just how soft Penelope can be. “But... why aren’t you asking me to take your last name instead?”

One of Penelope’s trademarks is being selfish, though Josie should’ve remembered by now that it never applies when it comes to her.

“Because my parents don’t deserve to have someone as beautiful and kind as you share their last name,” Penelope reaches out and grasps Josie’s hand with her own on top of the little table. “I feel more at home with you than I’ve ever felt with them. You, Josette _Saltzman_, are my home. And I’ve never known a better person than you. So it would be an honor to be connected to you with the name everyone knows you by.”

“Even if it’s also the last name Lizzie has?” Josie grins.

Penelope rolls her eyes. “Oh please, she’ll be Lizzie Mikaelson by 2040. I have nothing to worry about.”

“So you’re saying you won’t marry me until Lizzie marries Hope, and only if she takes Hope’s last name when she does it?” Josie teases.

“I’d even be honored to share Lizzie’s last name, because you do, and you’re proud of it.”

“What’s mine is yours, baby. That applies to my last name, too,” Josie gives Penelope’s hand a small squeeze, letting her know that even with her joking tone, the sentiment is serious.

“I love you,” Penelope grins softly, eyes shining with pure emotion.

“I love you, too.”

* * *

“You ready to party, Jo?”

Josie nods tightly at MG, glancing around the many young adults scattered around the clearing the woods that they’re in. “Where’s my fiancée?”

MG lets out a little squeal of joy at the last word like he has every single other time she or Penelope has said it in his presence in the past day and a half.

“Penelope and Hope are getting the cake,” MG explains.

“Why couldn’t someone else do that?” Lizzie whines from MG’s other side.

“You two are so whiny and needy when you’re tipsy,” MG laughs.

“It’s our birthday and we’ll whine if we want to!” Lizzie shouts.

“Pipe down, blondie,” Jed laughs, pouring himself a drink from the assorted alcohols on the table the trio is lingering by. “Shouldn’t you two be mingling with your guests?”

“They’re having separation anxiety,” MG teases.

“Drunk Josie has always missed Penelope the most,” Jed muses, remembering the several times he sat with Josie as she cried while Penelope was away on her search for a cure.

Apparently that only serves to worsen Josie’s alcohol induced emotions, and tears spring up in her eyes. “She’s coming back, right?”

Jed’s eyes widen. If Penelope sees Josie crying when she comes back and someone lets it slip that his joking caused it, he’s so dead.

“Yes! Yes she is!” He nods vehemently. “She won’t even be gone two more minutes.”

Josie sniffles, but her tears don’t fall.

And then as if right on cue, Penelope and Hope are back and the twins instantly forget they were even sad at all.

MG beams as he watches Penelope tap Josie’s nose with a frosting-covered finger, only to kiss the smudge away a moment later.

He laughs when Hope teasingly threatens to smash Lizzie’s face into the cake, only for the blonde to retaliate by holding her cup over Hope’s head and ever so slowly beginning to tip it. Hope ducks out of the way before Lizzie even splashes any liquid out of the cup.

He loves this. He loves seeing his four best friends happy with each other. Ever since Penelope had gotten back, things have been great.

Of course MG was a little mad at Penelope for not visiting him during the handful of times she returned before then, but how could he remain upset when she explained why she left in the first place and promised to never leave again?

He couldn’t, of course.

* * *

“What time is it?”

Penelope lifts her arm up over her head and squints at her watch in the small amount of light that the stars and moon provide. “Quarter to twelve.”

Hope sighs. “I wish time would hurry up.”

Lizzie curls deeper into Hope’s arms. “I’m cold. Can we go inside yet?”

“Almost, darling,” Hope strokes her hair.

“If one of us was going to just drop dead or something, wouldn’t it have happened already?” Josie asks from her place pressed against Penelope’s side.

Honestly, Penelope had been more worried about an enemy of her past coming to take their revenge by killing one of the twins on their birthday when she had already saved them from the ill fate they were supposed to suffer on this day.

“Just watch the stars, babe,” Penelope presses a kiss to Josie’s hairline.

“But I’m tired,” Josie pouts.

When Penelope and Hope had planned on ending the night up here with the twins, they hadn’t accounted for the fact that their girls would drink and dance their hearts out all night.

“Don’t fall asleep, Jo,” Penelope pleads softly.

She doesn’t say that she’s a little worried that somehow Josie wouldn’t wake up if she falls asleep before midnight.

It’s quiet for a little while. Until,

“Hey, Hope?”

“Yeah, P?”

“When’re you gonna do that thing we talked about yesterday?”

“You really wanna talk about that right now?”

“Talk about what?” Lizzie pipes up.

“Nothing!” Hope says before Penelope can respond.

Lizzie sits up and looks down at the other three women who are still laying down on the blanket that’s splayed out on the roof. “Well now I’m curious.”

Penelope smirks. “Ask your _girlfriend_ about it.”

“I wanna know, too,” Josie agrees.

“You did this on purpose, Park, didn’t you?” Hope realizes.

She’d be annoyed if it didn’t work so well in drawing the attention of the twins and making sure they don’t drift off in the last few minutes of March 15, 2036.

“I’ve got it, if you wanna do it right now.”

“Penelope!” Hope yelps.

Penelope fumbles to grab the object from her jacket.

She grins as she brings her other arm up to hover over her face, checking her watch again.

One minute passed midnight.

“Catch!” She blindly tosses the little box in the general direction of Hope and Lizzie.

Hope’s reflexes allow her to shoot up and snatch the box quickly. “How did you even get this?”

“What do you mean _‘how did I get it?’_ It was in your pocket. I just snagged it while you weren’t paying attention earlier when we were getting the cake,” Penelope scoffs.

“What is it, babe?” Lizzie tugs on Hope’s arm.

Penelope sits up and pulls Josie along with her so they can both see the other couple.

“Pretty romantic up here if you think about it,” Penelope muses. “All the candles, the champagne, the sky is gorgeous too. A perfect place to—“

“Penelope!” Hope warns.

“Do it, Mikaelson,” Penelope urges. “It’s the sixteenth now. No time like the present.”

“What are you talking about, Pen?” Josie presses.

“Hope?” Penelope catches the other woman’s gaze, silently letting Hope know that this is lighthearted and that there’s no actual pressure to propose to Lizzie right here, right now.

Hope gives a small nod of acknowledgement and takes a deep breath, turning to Lizzie.

“I have a present for you.”

“You already gave me one,” Lizzie reminds her.

“Well it’s after midnight and this one isn’t really a birthday present, anyways,” Hope shrugs.

“Then what is it?” Lizzie asks.

Josie shoots Penelope a confused look.

Penelope reaches out for her hand, giving Josie’s engagement ring two quick taps before lacing their fingers together.

Josie’s eyes widen, and Penelope mimes zipping her lips with her free hand.

“Liz, we’ve known each other for most of our lives, but I swear I learn something new about you every single day, and I think that’s the beauty of our relationship. We watch each other grow and develop, and I’ve spent more than half of my life watching you from afar, but being able to be with you on this journey, right by your side, is sorta magical. And I want that, forever, Lizzie. I want you to be part of my always and forever.”

Lizzie lets out a gasp and a squeaked “oh my god” as she realizes what Hope is doing when she moves to open the box.

“Hope—“

“Shh,” Hope smiles with tears in her eyes. “Let me talk, love.”

Lizzie wipes at her own eyes, but remains silent.

“I already consider you to be my family, but, Elizabeth Saltzman, would you do me the extraordinary honor of agreeing to become my wife?”

Hope holds out the little box, letting Lizzie get a good look at the stunning ring it houses.

“Will you marry me, Liz?”

“Yes!” Lizzie nods rapidly, throwing herself against Hope in a hug with so much force that they topple over in a heap of giggles.

When they sit up again, Hope slips the ring onto Lizzie’s finger.

Lizzie gazes down at it with pure amazement and happiness.

And then after a few moments of squealing with Josie over their gorgeous rings, Lizzie turns to Hope and narrows her eyes.

“I can’t believe you let Penelope propose to Josie before you proposed to me!”

* * *

“Hope?”

“Yes?”

“Did you ever think we’d end up like this? Like, that first night, when I almost died and then you almost killed me because I was bleeding to death in your bed but just wanted some olives, did you even for a moment think we’d end up here, like this?”

“Like what, P?”

“Happy, I guess.”

“I mean, if anyone deserves it, I think it’s Salvatore’s resident hero and the Saltzman twins’ savior, don’t you?”

**Author's Note:**

> I just want you guys to know that in a very early draft idea of this, all the hard work was for nothing and someone died. But I thought this nice ending would be better. Hit me up with your thoughts here or on twitter @ _iloveyou_iknow and let me know if there’s anything else you wanna see from me in the future.


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